“He loves swimming so it was a good opportunity,” Phillip said as he looked at the Finnish spitz before turning his attention toward the golden retriever/labrador mix still crouched poolside. “She’s supposed to love water. She only gets in if she can feel the bottom.”
The two dogs and their owners were participating in the city’s second Drool in the Pool, which is part of this year’s expanded Bark in the Park day.
Anna Foster, special events coordinator with the Temple Parks and Leisure Department, said about 60 dogs and their owners came to the pool, and more were participating in events outside the pool.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were 100 (dogs) here,” she said. “They’ve done this in other cities. We decided we wanted to do it after the pool closed.”
Jay Jepson, who was sitting in the pool with Jaws, a miniature Doberman pinscher, said she has been waiting for the event since last year.
“We used to go to the lake all the time,” she said. “Because (Lake) Belton’s been closed all summer we came here instead. Normally, he loved (the water). He’s not quite sure about the pool because he can’t touch bottom.”
Instead, Ms. Jepson held Jaws in the water.
Les Wade sat poolside and watched as his 5-year-old Labrador retriever, Blue, repeatedly jumped into the water, swam to the steps and climbed out before doing it all over again.
“My mother told him about it. He wouldn’t let me live it down if I hadn’t brought him,” he said.
Stephanie Moore had brought her 4-month-old miniature Australian shepherd, but they only got into the children’s pool.
“Charlie’s too little to go in there,” she said gesturing toward the large pool.
With the lakes closed this summer, Ms. Moore said it was a good opportunity to introduce the puppy to water.
“He enjoyed it as long as the other dogs were in the water,” she said. “When they got out, he tried to follow.”
Last year about 20 dogs attended Drool in the Pool, according to Ms. Foster.
“This year we made it bigger,” she said.
In partnership with Association for A Pet Adoption Center (APAC), the day was expanded to include adoption groups, an agility group from Waco and live music from Rockin’ Rick and the Corvettes. Proceeds from the event go toward APAC’s doggie pots, which allows dog owners to clean up after their pets in parks.
“This is more of an appreciation event for owners to do something with their animals they don’t normally get to do,” said Jake Herndon, APAC treasurer.
While owners said they and their pets were enjoying the warm afternoon at the pool, they had one request.
“We ought to have it more often,” Ms. Jepson said.
